KOZULIN CONTEMPLATES NEW HUNGER STRIKE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 001004 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL PINR BO SUBJECT: KOZULIN CONTEMPLATES NEW HUNGER STRIKE Ref: A) 06 Minsk 1278 B) State 164397 Classified By: Charge Jonathan Moore for reason 1.4 (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Aleksandr Kozulin plans to begin another hunger strike in March 2008, his wife Irina told the Charge in a meeting December 7. Upset with the legitimacy that he felt Lukashenko had gained through appeals for dialogue with the regime by some opposition figures and European officials, Kozulin has allegedly decided that such a radical step was necessary. Irina Kozulina said that she would not honor her husband's request to announce the upcoming hunger strike on December 10, Human Rights Day, because she felt that he had not yet formulated a list of achievable demands. She confirmed to the Charge that the Embassy should continue its attempts to visit Kozulin. The Charge noted that the USG remained committed to its demand for freedom for Kozulin and all political prisoners, and gave Kozulina summary points from this week's meetings of the Belarusian opposition delegation in Washington. End summary. Aleksandr Kozulin Prepared for Another Hunger Strike -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) At their request, the Charge met December 7 with Irina Kozulina, wife of former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin, as well as with their daughter Olga and Kozulin's lawyer (and former political prisoner) Sergey Skrebets. Irina said that she and her children had visited Kozulin recently and that, in spite of the extremely hard life in detention, he was surviving. Both she and her husband were upset with the legitimacy that they feel has been given to Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko's illegal rule by recent calls for dialogue both from some in the EU and from the Belarusian opposition. The Kozulins believe that such steps only further ensconced Lukashenko in power, and that acceptance by Europe and Russia meant that Lukashenko could keep Kozulin and other political prisoners in jail as long as he wished. According to Irina Kozulina, her husband had decided that drastic action was necessary, and planned to start a new hunger strike on the 90th anniversary of Belarusian statehood (March 25, 2008). [Note: Kozulin held a 54-day hunger strike in 2006 (ref A), which he ended only when the USG raised the subject of his detention and broader concerns in the U.N. Security Council. End note.] ¶3. (C) Skrebets was particularly critical of the Belarusian opposition, saying that they called on Lukashenko to engage them in dialogue, and had expressed willingness to contest elections against him without calling for improvements to the electoral code or vote counting practices. The lawyer added that Kozulin hoped, by his actions, to unite all those opposed to the regime, including youth; students, pensioners, and Chernobyl liquidators who had lost benefits; the intelligentsia and those who work in unregistered NGOs. Olga Kozulina noted that her father was indeed prepared to die. Still Unclear About Demands -------------- ¶4. (C) Irina Kozulina noted that her husband had requested that she announce his planned hunger strike on December 10, World Human Rights Day. Kozulina said that she would not make the announcement yet, however, because her husband had not yet formalized his demands. She felt that to strike without a list of achievable demands was to condemn her husband to a painful death pointlessly. [Note: Irina Kozulina, now taking alternative herbal remedies for advanced cancer rather than chemotherapy, was more energetic than in past meetings, but was quite gaunt and wan. End note.] Focus on the Dictator -------------- ¶5. (C) The Charge emphasized that the release of all political prisoners remained the key to future of bilateral relations. He explained that while there may be some who favor dialogue with the regime, insistence on the release of all political prisoners in Belarus remained official EU policy as well, and the USG continue to work with EU partners to keep our policies on Belarus firm and united. MINSK 00001004 002 OF 002 The Charge added that an opposition delegation currently in Washington had raised Kozulin's plight -- and that of the five other political prisoners -- with President Bush December 6, and further noted that the President and Secretary Rice (ref B) had utilized the opposition's visit SIPDIS to underscore USG commitment to freedom and democracy in Belarus. ¶6. (C) The Charge stressed that Kozulin and his efforts on behalf of the opposition were very important for Belarus, even during his imprisonment. He told Irina and Olga Kozulina that whatever course of action Kozulin and his family chose, that they should focus their actions, demands, and dissatisfaction where they belonged, on the dictator. While acknowledging that some in the EU and in the opposition in Belarus had -- without positive result -- sought dialogue with Lukashenko, the Charge stressed that it was Lukashenko alone who was guilty for the lack of freedom in Belarus. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) Leaving the Embassy, Irina Kozulina asked that her husband's plans not be discussed publicly. Ideally, Kozulin will rethink a second hunger strike, which is unlikely to succeed if targeted against the regime, and will disrupt the opposition unhelpfully if directed against it. With Irina Kozulina's health continuing to fail as well, the Kozulins are passing the political torch to their daughter Olga, who has been selected as an opposition candidate in the 2008 parliamentary elections. While Kozulin himself has been a complicated figure, we cannot help but think that Belarus would be better off with him alive -- even in jail -- than as a martyr. Moore